22/23 February

The Dutch fleet of Boudewijn Hendrikszoon arrived at the Island Margarita on 22 February. The next day half his fleet sailed into the harbour of Pampatar and started shooting at the fortress Santiago. Many times the cannonballs hit their targets but only one Spanish soldier was slightly wounded. The rest of the Dutch fleet, commanded by Hendrikszoon, sailed to a little harbour to the East of the fortress where the troops started disembarking.
Before anyone could do so, however, Captain Juan Perez de Emparan, commander of the infantry of the island, sent 50-60 of his men to watch posts and trenches of the harbour Pampatar. 20 of his men were left in the watchtower of the fortress. The Governor of the Island Margarita, Don Andrés Rodriguez de Villegas, immediately left the city Pampatar (2 miles from the fortress to the inland) with reinforcements.

Santiago fortress consisted of a tower and two small bastions that were connected by an earthen wall and a small house. These were surrounded by a wall with a gate that was made of Wood. 8 Cannon were deployed towards the sea and the fortress was manned on a regular basis with 4 men.
On the landside the castle was less well defended: no cannon were deployed there.

Near the landing site where the Dutch troops were gathering a Spanish guard post was situated. This post was manned by 6 soldiers and 4 Guaiqueri indians who were commanded by Alonso Garcia. As soon as they saw the Dutchmen disembarking they fled from their post to the surrounding woods. They did not even send a warning to the fortress.
When the 1½ hour bombardment of Santiago ceased Don Juan de Vargas sent some men East of the castle to see what was happening there. On their return these men met with most of the garrison, under the command of Don Bartolome de Vargas Machuca (the uncle of Juan), who had left the fortress for reasons that were unclear. Bartolome and some of his men returned to with Juan de Vargas to the fortress. Juan sent his man Mayorga for reinforcements to the city of Pampatar. On his way Mayorga met with Governor Villegas and after giving his message went to the trenches in the harbour. Governor Villegas sent 20 soldiers and 12 Guaiqueri bowmen to Santiago.

Meanwhile an advance party of Dutch soldiers immediately after disembarking went on its way to attack the fortress. This party of 10-20 men was led by Admiral Hendrikszoon himself. The advance party was too eager, however, and got cut off from the main force by Spanish soldiers commanded by Juan de Vargas. Juan also managed to split up the advance party. Some of them were forced to retreat a ways to wait for the main force. The others went on to attack the fortress. Juan de Vargas, Don Bartolome and a few men that were still in the castle fiercely defended it. During the attack Hendrikszoon lost his sword to Don Bartolome. When the Dutch soldiers finally captured and opened the gates, Don Bartolome and some of the soldiers abandoned it and went to join Governor Villegas who had just arrived with the reinforcements. Bartolome was fiercely berated for abandoning the fortress. Villegas personally commanded the Spanish soldiers he sent to Santiago in an attempt to retake it. The Dutchmen defended the fortress very well and when Villegas saw the main Dutch landing party coming from the east he abandoned the attempt.
Villegas was furious at the refusal of the soldiers, in the trenches of the harbour, to join him when he attacked Santiago despite several entreaties.

24-27 February

From a prisoner Hendrikszoon learned that most of the Spaniards lived in the city Pampatar which could be reached by way of a road leading inland, away from the castle. This road was heavily defended by Spanish soldiers in trenches and by natural barriers, namely torny bushes. The women of this city had fled to the hills of the island, taking many valuables with them. Hendrikszoon decided not to attack it.
On 24 February he sent some of his vessels to scout out any other harbours on the island to attempt another landing and attack. These vessels attempted a landing in the harbour of Pueblo de la Mar but Spanish soldiers, commanded by Governor Villegas, prevented this. Several Dutch soldiers died in this attempted landing.
Meanwhile Hendrikszoon ordered 7 cannon of the castle to be dismantled and put them on board the vessels of his fleet. 2 days were spent in plundering and destroying the castle. The houses were burnt down. On 27 February the Dutch forces left again.

For this text I drew heavily on:

Laet, Joannes de

Historie ofte jaerlijck verhael van de verrichtinghen der Geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie, zedert haer begin tot het eynde van 't jaer sesthien-hondert ses-en-dertich / begrepen in derthien boecken ende met verscheyden koperen platen verciert ; beschreven door Joannes de Laet. - Tot Leyden : by Bonaventuer ende Abraham Elsevier, 1644

Wright, I.A.

Nederlandse Zeevaarders op de eilanden in de Caraïbische zee en aan de kust van Columbia en Venezuela gedurende de jaren 1621-1648(9): documenten hoofdzakelijk uit het Archivo General de Indias te Sevilla / Bijeengebracht en uitgegeven door Irene A. Wright ; met vertalingen der documenten door C.F.A. van Dam. - Utrecht : Kemink en Zoon N.V., 1934-35. - (Werken uitgegeven door het Historisch Genootschap. Derde Serie)
. - No. 63: Dl 1: 1621-1641. - No. 64: Dl 2: 1635-1648(9)